nars nail polish

NARS Madness Nail Polish ($19.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as an “electric orange.” It’s a brightened, medium orange with a jelly finish–it has a squishy, slightly translucent quality to the way it looks and applies that is very true to the jelly finish. NARS TV Party is darker and a true cream. Illamasqua Gamma is a bit brighter and also a true cream.

It has semi-opaque color payoff after two coats, and the opacity was consistent of what is expected of a jelly finish (and part of what makes a jelly, well, a jelly!). It has a thicker, squishy look that gives it a plushness. Madness actually looks like candy corn on my longer nails, because the white tips turn to a lighter, more tangerine orange, while the rest of the nail is a deeper orange! The consistency is on the thicker side (but normal for a jelly), and it flowed well across the nail without bubbling, streaking, or pooling along the edges. NARS’ formula wears very well on me, as it is one of the longer-wearing formulas I’ve come across, and I get a full seven days of wear with very minor tip wear but no chipping.

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NARS Spring 2011: Desperado

NARS Desperado Nail Polish ($16.00 for 0.5 fl. oz.) is deep yellow gold with a golden-bronze base. NARS describes it as an “antique brass.” I think it’s a gorgeous take on gold–it’s clearly gold but so much deeper and richer. It’s kind of like NARS Etrusque in polish form. This polish is a bit sheer, though; at two coats, it was almost opaque but there was still visible nail line, and the thickness of NARS’ formula made me hesitant to put on a third coat (I also didn’t feel confident that it was going to get me to total opaqueness).

my thoughts on the formula: NARS’ Nail Polish wears a solid week on me with minor tip wear (along with a proper base and top coat, of course). The polish tends to be on the thicker side but not goopy. Desperado had a mix of being thick but seemingly watery, which I imagine is why it was still semi-sheer after two thicker coats.

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Product: 26/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

final thoughts: The color is spectacular; I see it really complementing skin tones with yellow and olive under tones. It’s rich and deep and luxurious. As a polish with a slightly metallic finish, some brush strokes are visible though.

NARS Holiday: Pokerface

NARS Pokerface Nail Polish ($16.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is a new and limited edition shade described as a “vibrant lilac.” It’s one of two new polishes from NARS’ Holiday collection. I’m curious as to why NARS has started to push out more and more limited edition products; often, in the past, seasonal items were rolled into the permanent range.

Pokerface is a medium lilac with subtle pinky-red undertones and pale lilac micro-shimmer. It took three coats, but the end result was opaque, smooth, and beautiful. I see this looking particularly striking on paler, cooler skin tones, as well as deeper skin tones for a stunning contrast.

I’ve had good luck with NARS polish in terms of wear–about a week with just minor tip wear but no chipping–and this shade applied nicely. It wasn’t too thick or thin, and I didn’t experience any bubbling.

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Product: 28/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: It’s a very feminine without being over-the-top girly; there’s still that bit of edge despite the lilac base color. I think it would work well on cooler skin tones, because it does lean towards the cool spectrum, but I still thought it worked with my warmer skin tone.

NARS Vintage Nail Polishes see the re-release of five coveted NARS shades. As of late last night, Zulu was back in stock, actually, though it was sold out for a time. These are all limited edition, and each shade retails for $16.

King Kong is a orange-toned molten copper bronze with copper shimmer threaded through the base color. This was the most pigmented shade out of the five; I used two coats. This applied evenly and smoothly, and it didn’t show brushstrokes too much for a metallic finish.

Mash is a darkened olive green base with green and gold shimmer that warm it up. This was my favorite color out of the bunch. You’ll definitely need three coats, and some brushstrokes ended up showing for me, so be patient.

Zulu is a deep, dark blackened green jelly. It’s very inky and solid and virtually black in low lighting. In the sunlight, the green of its base is more apparent. You’ll need at least three coats, if not four, to get full, opaque color. I’d also recommend slightly thicker coats, because those thinner coats seem to cause some streaking.

Midnight Express is a deep, dark blackened navy. Just like Zulu, this shade is mostly black in low light and brightens up to its bluer form in sunlight. I did three coats, but you may find four better. The application for this shade was exactly the same as Zulu for me.

Full Metal Jacket is a bluish silvered gray with silver shimmer. It is the most metallic of the five, and it is incredibly prone to showing brushstrokes. Patience is key with these kinds of metallics–you want to minimize the pressure and the number of times you brush the polish on the nails. Three coats.

The application issues make me wary of recommending these. Part of me wants to tell you to scoop up any shades that catch your eye before they’re sold out or gone for good, but the other part of me just wants to say, well, they don’t seem super-freaking-awesome as some shades have been hyped up to be. (Zulu, I’m looking at you!) It can be fun own a piece of history, as it were, though, and with some patience and a steady hand, all of these shades are workable. Mash and King Kong were good, while the rest were decent, so they kind of balance out. What also saves these polishes is that they’re not easy to dupe, which makes them even more covetable.

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Product: 25/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 3/5

Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: If you don’t normally purchase $16 nail polish, these might not be the best ones to go for first. They’re not as easy to apply as your average nail polish. Also, if you can’t be fussed to be careful and wait between coats, you’ll probably have a poor experience with these.

The Classy, Sophisticated Way to Wear Gold

NARS Versailles Nail Polish ($16.00 for 0.5 fl. oz.) is a softened yellow gold with champagne shimmer woven through. It has a slightly metallic look to it. It’s very spring-into-summer–the softness of the gold makes it like a gilded yellow, perfect for spring, but it has the shimmer and sheen that makes it great for summer, too. The formula runs a little thick, but it applies easily and goes opaque in two coats. I like that this is a gold that can be worn by cooler and warmer skin tones–it’s not a true yellow gold, so it should still complement those with pinker undertones!

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Product: 27/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

Recommendation: For softened champagne-gold with pretty shimmer and a subtle, metallic look, Versailles may be the right shade for you.